Apparatus for treating sewage



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

A. F. BLACK. APPARATUS FOR TREATING SEWAGE.

Patented Apr. '7, 1891.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

A. F. BLACK. APPARATUS FOR TREATING SEWAGE.

No. 450,094. Patented Apr. 7; 1891.

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(No Model.) I 3Sheefi-Sheet 3.

- APPARATUS FOR TREATING SEWAGE.

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FFICE.

ASHER F. BLACK, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR TR EA TING SEWAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,094, dated April'7, 1891.

Application filed May 10, 1889- Serial No. 310,314. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ASHER F. BLACK, of Malden,in the county of Middlesexand State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvementin an Apparatus for Treating Sewage, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

The object of my invention is to so arrange and combine certainmechanisms that they may, in connection with currents of .air andfurnaces, to a very large extent cleanse .and deodorize sewage-water.This object I attain by the mechanism shown in the accompanyingdrawings,

in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my apparatus, the frontcasing being removed, so as to show its interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section of the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view. Fig. 4 is adetail.

In using my invention the sewage-water is first raised to a sufficientheight. Then it is discharged onto a distributinggrill, from which itfalls in a spray onto the first belt sieve, which allows the fluid andthefiner parts of the solid matter to pass through; but the coarserparts of the solid matter are lodged on the belt and conveyed by it to achute by which they (the said coarser parts) are deposited in adrying-bin, which may be made in any desirable form and style. Thesewage that passes through the first belt sieve, as above stated, dropsonto a second sieve, which in turn selects thecoarser solid matter andallows the fluid and finer particles to pass through, the coarse partsthat remain on this belt sieve being delivered through another chute tothe drying-reservoir. This action may be repeated a numberof times-thatis, the partially-cleansed sewage may be passed onto and through asuccession of belts until cleansing by this means has been done to anextent that may be satisfactory. After the more fluid part of the sewagehas passed through all of the sieves, taking with it the finer parts ofsolid matter, it falls into a series of filters, which by themselvesconstitute a tram of cars, as shown in Fig. 1,- and in passing throughthese filter-cars from the top to the bottom of them the finer parts ofthe sewage are retained by the sand in the said filter-cars, and thefiltered fluid that drips from the .cars is so nearly pure as to beinoxious. The foul gases are removed before the sewage reaches thefilter-cars, as will be hereinafter more fully referred to.

The filter-cars above referred to may be of any suitable constructionand adapted to pass under the sewage-chamber, as shown. The bottoms ofthe said cars are made perforated and otherwise adapted to allow oftheir acting as filters.

The cars are so constructed as to form a continuous filtering-bed, andmay be in constant motion while the apparatus is in operation. Thesludge that gathers on and in the upper part of the sand can be removedwith out stopping the train of filtering-cars.

The above-described filtering-cars run 011 a track that is circular inform, or at least forms a continuous ring, a sectorof which is immediately under the sieve belts of my apparatus. The other parts of thetrack traverse a depositing-field from which the dripping water can beconveyed into brook or river and the sludge gathered from the cars andused as a fertilizer. lVhile the fluid part of the sewage is descendingfrom the grilland from sieve tosieve, and finally to thefiltering-gravel, it, being in the form of spray, is metin its descentby a blast of fresh air, which will take up the noxious gases and vaporsescaping from the falling spray of sewage and convey it'through an""exhaust-fan to afurnace, where it will become innoxious in the productsof combustion. H

The mechanical construction of my device is as follows:

A A represent the frame-work to which the casing O O O O 0, preferablyof thin metal, is attached. The belt-drums D D are attached to avertical shaft B, as shown in Fig. 1, the belts of which run oncorresponding drums D D, attached to the vertical shaft B. The shaft 13also has upon ita third drum D, the belt from which runs onto the drum Dwhich is also mounted on the vertical shaft B The drums are made torevolve byany suitable motive power. The sieve belts E E E pass betweenpairs of rolls H H, Fig. 2, the lower ones of which are concave and theupper ones convex, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the sieve belts formlongitudinal troughs, as shown,

for of the sewage and to convey it to the ver tical revolving brushes K.The brushes K serve to brush off the solid matter that may adhere to thesieve belts and to cause it to fall into the chutes L L L by which it isdelivered into a drying-reservoir, where it may be dried by artificialheat or by the natural process, as may be desired. It will be observedthat the sieve belts after they leave the rollers next to the verticalbrushes K gradually assume a vertical position, so as to cause the solidmatter that rests upon or adheres to them to fall off or be brushed offby the vertical brushes into the chutes L L L Air for drying and takingaway the moisture and foul gases and vapors enters the sievechamberthatis, the part in which the sieve belts do the Work being drawn in fromthe rear chamber M (see Fig. 2) through the openings M M, Fig. 1,and,having passed through the spray in the sieve-chamber, is drawn outthrough the exhaust-fan N, Fig. 3, and driven through the pipe I Fig. 3,to a furnace, where all of the noxious gases and vapors are consumed andpass oif in an innoxious condition as products of combustion. It will beobserved that the chamber M, Fig. 2, appears to be separated from themain chamber of the apparatus by two partitions O C. The inner one issimply a supportfor the rollers II II. The space between these twopartitions has no particular function, but is simply a result of theconstruction of the casing and supports of the apparatus.

The rear chamber M, in which the sieve belts pass after they have beenfreed by the brush-wheel, Figs. 1 and 2, from the solid i matter, issupplied with air from any desirable source through the pipe T, Fig. 2,the said air serving to dry and purify the belts and then pass, as hasbeen stated, into the sieve-chamber, where it will take from the spraythe noxious gases and vapors and be sefit by the exhaust-fan N, Fig; 3,into the consuming-furnace.

The operation of my device is as follows: The sewage is raised by pumpsor otherwise to the delivery-pipe R, from which it falls upon the grillR, and is distributed in a scattered condition upon the first (andcoarsest) sieve-belt E. This sieve belt, moving in the direction of thearrow 6, (see Fig. 1,) conveys such of the-solid matter of the sewagethat cannot pass through it to the brush-wheel K, by which it is throwninto the chute L, and from thence that partis deposited in thedrying-reservoir. The part of the sewage that is not detained by thefirst belt, as above set forth, is taken by the second belt E and thecoarser parts delivered to the chute L. The parts of the sewage thatpass the second belt E are acted upon by the third belt E The parts ofthe sewage that pass the third belt E are filtered by the gravel or sandin the cars P. During the time that the sewage is dripping in the formof spray from the top of the sieve-chamber S to the bottom that is, tothe gravel in the cars I P-a current of air is ascending through it andfreeing it from its noxious gases and vapors, as has been stated.

In the drawings I have not shown any heating or consuming furnace, asalmost any kind of a furnace will do the work. The same is true of areservoir or pit for drying the solid matter that is thrown out by thechutes L L L To insure the thorough cleansing of the sieve belts in thechamber H, I have the nozzle of the pipe T made very narrow and in closeproximity to the belt, so that the blast (which should be very strong)will force itself entirely through the meshes of the sieve belt anddrive out all of the entangled matter, leaving the sieve belt in as goodorder as it was at the first time that it entered the sieve-chamber.

If desirable, a pipe and nozzle line the one shown at T may be used inconnection with each sieve belt.

Having thus described. my invention, what I claim is 1. In a device fortreating sewage, the com bination of sieve belts operating in a closedaerating-chamber and adapted to convey the more solid matter of thesewage to rotating brushes and to allow the fluid and finer matter tofall in a spray and be subjected to the purifying effect of the movingair in the said chamber, as described, with rotating brushes adapted tocleanse the said belts of the coarser matter and deliver the same tochutes, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth. a

2. In a device for treating sewage, the combination of a series of sievebelts operating in a closed aerating-chamber, adapted to-separate thesolid matter and to spray the fluid part, as described, with a series ofrotating brushes adapted to remove the said solid matter from the beltsand deliver it into chutes, as described, and a blast-pipe adapted toforce a powerful current of air against and through the sieve belts forthe purpose of cleansing thesame, substantiallyas described, and for thepurpose set forth.

3. In a device for treating sewage, the combination of a series of sievebelts operating in a closed aerating-chamber, as described, with amovable filtering apparatus adapted to receive that part of the sewagethat has passed through the sieve belts and filter the

